"There! All your pokemon are healed and battle ready! We hope to see you again!" the pink haired nurse offered a dazzling grin as Ed thanked her and took his leave.

"Let's get moving you two!" Ed rushed towards the door with Eevee and Al in pursuit.

"Right behind you brother!" Al was leaping with excitement.

"Ehveh!" she hopped beside her trainer.

"Our first stone lead! One step closer to getting us our bodies back!" he grinned enthusiastically.

"Eh ehvee, vee." Eevee rolled her eyes.

"Oh, right, Ed maybe we should be quieter about that." they looked around to see some passing people giving them odd looks.

Ed waved them off, "Eh, fuck em'." he dug around in his pocket for the slightly crumpled orders, "We're heading towards a town known as Fisk up north. It's a small town near the woods, things are going missing, and the usually docile wild pokemon have been a bit hostile lately. Either that or they're very fearful." he sloppily folded it up and shoved it back in his pocket. "Mustang thinks it could have something to do with a certain stone we're looking for." Ed tapped the crumpled papers, "The philosopher's stone is said to have that kind of effect of pokemon."

"That is really odd, they were docile and calm before?" Al mused.

"Mmhm." They arrived at the station and sat down, "We don't have too much information so we'd have to do some investigating." he exhaled in anticipation, "I think this could be a really great start for the three of us!"

"Eh! Veh!"

"Definitely!"

It didn't take long for the train to arrive and they boarded eagerly, though their eagerness didn't last long.

Ed pursed his lips as he rolled the dice, the bumping train causing them to wobble a bit. "Ha!" he shouted, "I rolled a twelve!"

Al huffed, "You won again! This is the eighth time brother." the Zorua scowled.

Ed dropped his last card down on the table between them, "Oh come on, don't be a sore loser Al." he pulled the snacks laid out on the table over to his side, "How about another round?"

"Eh, veh eh." Eevee looked unimpressed.

"How the hell would I be cheating!?-"

He was interrupted by a woman walking through the door of the passenger car, "Next stop Aszamem, and after that, Letuto." Ed glanced at his map, that didn't seem right…

"Excuse me ma'am," the woman about to take her leave turned to him, "Doesn't this train stop at Fisk?"

The woman looked a bit confused, "Fisk… I'm not sure I've heard of that."

Ed raised a suspicious eyebrow, "This is the only train heading in its direction." He pulled out his map and pointed to it. "See?"

She blinked, "Oh! That town doesn't have a stop there, you'd have to get off next and find another way there."

Ed's mouth dropped open, "You're kidding me right?!"

"Sorry sir, but there's nothing I can do." She exited quickly, avoiding any more conversation.

The Alchemist crossed his arms and leaned back, sliding down in his seat, "Damnit! The guy at the station said this train would take us to Fisk!"

"Don't get so upset brother, he must have meant that this is the only train in the direction of Fisk. Maybe it isn't as far as it looks on the map." Al offered, crossing over to his side.

"Hopefully." Ed sighed.

"Ehveh…" Eevee agreed.

They found life disappointing them once again at the train station.

The lady said it with such a bright fucking grin too.

"It's about 20 miles away, it should take around six and a half hours without a break."

Ed, Eevee, and Al's faces were the least enthusiastic things that woman had probably ever seen.

"Well shit." Ed groaned, "Of course the bastard would send us to a place we can't get to by train!"

"Eh! Ehveh."

"What are you talking about!? Of course he planned this from the start!" Ed ranted, "I can see him now, smirking, probably brushing his fennekin or his rapidash with that shit eating grin he's always got."

"Come on brother," Al began, exasperated, "Let's gear up at the pokemon center…"

"I bet he's thinking about us right now, laughing at how far we have to walk to get our job done! Colonel Bastard!" Ed stomped away as Eevee and Al shared a look.

It was a very long walk to the pokemon center…

Ed bought plenty of berries, potions, and a couple pokeballs just in case he needed one for the trip before the trio headed out on a very, very long walk.

The afternoon turned to evening, and the evening turned what Ed described as 'It's pitch black, I can't fucking see' so they considered stopping to camp for the night.

"We don't know how far town is brother, maybe stopping is a good idea." Al mused, taking a seat and dropping his exhausted human disguise.

"Ehhvehh." The brown pokemon agreed, taking a seat next to the Zorua.

"Alright then." Ed stretched, "I have no clue what time it is and my limbs hurt so we can rest until morning." he stretched out.

"What about your Pocket watch brother?" Al asked, tilting his head.

Ed seemed to freeze up, "Er-it's, its too dark to read it, it doesn't matter what the exact time is anyways." he made a show out of yawning. "I'm so tired, we should all get some rest so we can be awake and alert for this lead tomorrow." Ed sat down and opened up his pack, taking out his sleeping bag and rolling it out.

Al shrugged off Ed's demeanor as exhaustion and found himself yawning as well. Ed set his pack to the side in a way so the berries wouldn't be crushed before snuggling into the warmth of the bag. "Hey, its kinda cold tonight, and there's not enough room for both of you in here… Eevee, return for the night." he called the pokemon back to her ball and rolled it over to Al. "Put that in the bag to keep warm, okay?"

Al nodded and did so before hopping over and crawling in as well, cuddling up to his brother. Ed exhaled in a content manner and hugged Al close, "G'night Al. Love ya."

"Goodnight brother, I love you too." Al snuggled closer and closed his eyes as he drifted off alongside his brother.

Ed shifted in his sleep as sounds invaded his dreams, why did the sharpedo he was battling sound so crunchy? And why did that trainer's words sound like a zipper being opened?

Ed groggily sat up and squinted as the light of sunrise burned into his corneas. Ah, the beauty of nature. He turned to the source of the sounds and froze at what he saw.

Before him, a blue figure with oran berry juice dripping from its mouth, was a wild pokemon. A wild pokemon that was stealing from them.

Ed hopped up, "H-hey! Stop that!" the pokemon's eyes widened as it stuffed the rest of the berry in its mouth, before grabbing the bag and dashing away.

Ed was so tired he couldn't even register he wasn't all the way out of the sleeping bag yet. "Get back here you little-" his feet were caught in the sleeping bag and he landed flat on his face, and right on top of Al.

"Brother what the heck?" Al squeezed out from under him, "I was sleeping." he rubbed his tired eyes.

"That little bandit stole our bag!" he crawled out and looked around angrily, but the pokemon was nowhere to be seen.

"Bandit?" Al asked, still not totally awake.

"Yea! Wake up Al! he was eating our berries! Then he went and took the whole damn thing when I woke up! All of our berries, potions, and water bottles are gone, not to mention-" he choked a bit upon the realization, "EEVEE WAS IN THERE! FUCK!"

Al woke up at that, "Eevee!? We've gotta get her back! What did the pokemon look like!?"

Ed snorted, "It looked exactly like the thief it was! Mischievous red eyes! It was blue, and stood on two legs! It even looked like it had a mask!"

"Wow… that sounds like a stereotypical thief description…" Al trailed off. "Which way did it go?" Ed looked around, noticing some berries had fallen to the ground near some trees.

He smirked and pointed in the direction the pokemon went, "That way! Come on!"

Al raced in the direction Ed pointed to, "I'll try to sniff our bag or Eevee out!"

They ran blindly relying on Al's nose until they found themselves a bit confused as to where they were. "Got a scent Al?" Ed asked, hopeful.

Al seemed a bit sheepish, "Well, not really… I smell something but it's that way." Al pointed a different direction, "Maybe it changed directions to confuse us? I smell berries."

"It's the best we've got." Ed agreed, before racing where Al directed. They ran quickly, and failed to notice that they'd left the forest until it was too late.

The poor old woman hadn't even seen them coming.

"Oh! My pecha berries!"

Ed rubbed his head, "S-sorry ma'am, we were in such a rush, we didn't even see you."

"Oh it's quite alright." the old woman laughed warmly, "Where were you boys off to in such a hurry?"

"A little bandit stole my bag! It had all my stuff and one of my pokemon in it!" Ed grit his teeth.

"Oh goodness." The woman frowned, "Well I don't know about your pokemon, but I know someone in town who can help you get some of your things back. He sells almost everything! He makes it with alchemy so he should be able to get your things back." she pointed over to a house near the end of the road, "He lives right there."

The woman began to pick up her berries as Ed leaned don to help her, "Alchemy huh? Are there any other alchemists around here?"

The woman pursed her lips, "Nope, he's the only one I have seen here in my lifetime, and thankfully so that he's showed up, he's been a lifesaver with all the thievery going about lately."

"Thanks ma'am." Ed waved goodbye to her as he looked towards Al, "That guy has probably been making a name for himself, wonder where he gets all his materials. Not to mention that he's the only alchemist around here…" Ed trailed off.

The Zorua looked up at him, "Are you saying this could be?"

"Yea," Ed smirked, "The philosopher's stone."

They both rushed to the house at the end of the street and knocked on the door three times. A man with long black hair tied back in a ponytail opened the door, "Hello?" they could see a pink pokemon sleeping on a pillow behind him.

"Excuse me? A lady selling some berries told us you have a large assortment of products for sale that you create with alchemy?" Al asked.

The man seemed surprised but quickly brushed it off, "Oh! Of course! You can call me Darrel. Come around back! That's where my merchandise is!"

He lead them around his house to a small area out back, it was well stocked with different types of berries, potions, and even some clothing items.

Ed attempted to approach the topic casually, "You sure do have a lot of berries… where do you grow all of them?" he looked around, "I don't see any place for them to grow."

The man grinned, "I make everything I sell with Alchemy actually. I just transmute whatever's around there's plenty of dirt around here, you know."

Ed refrained from rolling his eyes, because that sure as hell wasn't suspicious at all. "Oh really?" Ed looked at Al with a grin, "I'm quite amazed really, in all my years of transmuting I have never been able to transmute anything like berries with something like dirt."

The man seemed to freeze up under Ed's glare. "I have quite some skills young man. I've been studying it for years."

"I'm quite familiar with it myself." Ed flashed his silver pocket watch.

The man's eyes almost seemed to say "Oh shit." as he backed up.

"Care to tell me where you got those berries again?"

The man suddenly let out a loud yell, causing Ed and the Zorua to cover their ears, "THIEVES! THIEVES! COMING TO STEAL MY PRECIOUS MERCHANDISE I'VE WORKED SO HARD FOR!" the attention of others in the small town was quickly captured.

People came flooding into the backyard, bickering and yelling with anger. Two men dressed in police uniforms came and lifted Ed up, another snatched up Al.

"H-hey what the hell!?"

"We don't need any more thieves in this town! We already have enough trouble with our things being taken! We don't need anyone stealing from the only guy who can give stuff back to us!"

"But we didn't steal anything!" he dug into his pocket, "Look! I'm a state alchemist!" he presented his watch.

"Bet cha' stole that too, what are ya? Eight?"

Ed puffed up his cheeks in anger, "I'm twelve and a half so shut the fuck up!"

"Please! Listen!" Ed and Al were dragged out of the small town and dumped into the wooded area beside it as their words were ignored.

"Well that didn't go too well." Ed crossed his arms, "There's no denying it now, that guy definitely has a stone."

"Well there's not much we can do about it now." Al sighed, "Maybe we should wait till things cool off."

Ed nodded, "Good idea-LOOK!" he pointed ahead towards a small blue blur, running away.

"Brother what-"

"There's that little thief! Let's get him Al!" They raced after the pokemon but lost sight of him after he disappeared into a clearing. Ed stomped his foot, "Damnit! It was right here!"

"We might never find Eevee." Al sighed, about to give up hope when a loud angry voice rang out.

"EHVEH! EE! EH! VEE! VEH!"

The sound came from what seemed to be the hollow base of a tree. Al peeked under there to see a very angry Eevee yelling at her abductor.

The pokemon was just as Ed described, but it looked scared, now, taking steps back from the opposing pokemon.

"Eevee!" Al cried with happiness.

"Eh!" she leaped over to Al and gave him a nuzzle. " Veh! Ee!"

"Yea, let's get our stuff back!" Al snatched up the pack in his mouth, attempting to pull it out of the den, but the blue pokemon resisted. It tugged the bag back towards it in panicked motions.

"Ehveh!" The brown pokemon aided Al in his endeavors and helped him pull. Eventually they ended up pulling the other pokemon out of his hiding spot.

"Gotcha!" Ed yelled triumphantly, "Didn't I tell ya Al? A bandit! It's got the mask and everything." The pokemon gritted its teeth and growled in response, refusing to let go of the bag.

"Let go already!" Al pulled harder as Ed joined to help, the pokedex fell out of the bag from all the tossing around. The trio was about to get the bag back but then, another force ripped the bag from them.

A tall pink pokemon laughed a bit as it held the bag out of everyone's reach.

"H-hey! Give that back!" Ed yelled.

The black and blue pokemon leaped up with a cry, it seemed very distressed, "Rii! Riiio! Lu lu!"

The other pokemon smirked and stood up tall against the much smaller pokemon attempted to use what looked like a sloppy force palm. In return, the taller pokemon smirked in an almost evil way and, well… it was hardot describe. It was definitely a pokemon move but it just basically beat the shit out of the poor thing.

Ed frowned, "What the fu-" he held up the pokedex to the tall pokemon, "Granbull, the Fairy Pokémon. Granbull has extreme biting power due to its heavily muscled jaw and its strong teeth and tusks." he scrolled down in the entry to see what moves it could potentially learn. He nudged Al, "I think that was Play Rough."

The blue pokemon fell to the ground as the pink pokemon fled the scene with the prize on its back.

Ed approached the pokemon laying there and held up the pokedex, "Riolu, the Emanation Pokémon. Riolu has the power to see and understand emotions like happiness and anger in aura waves." he lowered the dex and stuck it in his pocket.

Ed frowned, "It isn't looking too good." the pokemon was very beat up and was in desperate need of medical attention.

"We can't just go to a pokemon center, they may not let us in after what happened in town." Al offered up a point.

"Eh! Veh vee!"

"Good idea Eevee!" Ed grinned and turned to Al, "While she's getting those, why don't you look for some Sitrus Berries in case Eevee can't find any Oran Berries." Al nodded and got to searching.

He felt a bit bad for shouting at the Riolu as he looked down at its pained face, even though it did steal from them.

It wasn't long before Eevee returned with a couple Oran berries she had managed to gather, there weren't many berries around to choose from.

Ed held the berry up to the Riolu's nose, the pokemon sniffed it a couple times and cracked its eyes open. In its view was Ed's concerned face holding a berry out to it, Riolu, realizing its situation quickly snatched the berry and scurried out of Ed's arms, shoving the berry in its mouth.

"H-hey calm down! We wanna talk to you!"

The pokemon turned away with a grunt, crossing its arms.

"Please, we just wanna know what's going on, did you know that Granbull?" Al asked.

"Ri! Rio! Lu lu!"

"Wh- hey there's no need to use those wor-"

"Lu! Lio! Ri lu!"

"Oh… I see." Al sat down, looking a bit sad.

"Eh? Veh?" Eevee approached the Riolu.

"Ri!" tears welled up in the pokemon's red eyes, "Rio! Lu Rilu!" the pokemon sat on the ground as it began to cry.

"You're right… nobody deserves that." Al frowned and turned to his brother, "Riolu is a very young pokemon, he's still a baby. He didn't want to steal from us but he had to. Whenever he gathers what little food he can find around here, that Granbull shows up and bullies it out of him! She does it to all the pokemon in this forest!"

"Riolu? Why don't you fight back?" Ed asked.

"RI!" the blue pokemon bared his teeth.

"Riolu tries to, but he's not strong enough." Al tapped his chin, "You saw him try to use force palm earlier." the pokemon looked embarrassed at Al's words.

Ed bit his lip, "Damnit, this is a situation huh." he groaned and leaned down to get eye level with the Riolu, "Listen, I came here to investigate why the pokemon around here were so hostile, and I hadn't a doubt in my mind you were an example of it when you took my bag." the pokemon looked down. "But, I see now that things are a bit different than I thought. The pokemon around here are stealing things to eat huh?" the pokemon nodded slowly. Ed exhaled, "Alright, I believe you. And we can't just let that pokemon keep on taking everything, do you know where it lives?"

The Riolu seemed to ponder the question before nodding and pointing in a direction.

"Perfect! Let's go teach that Gran-"

"Ri!"

"Huh?" the Riolu latched onto Ed's coat, shaking his head. "What's wrong?"

"He doesn't want us to go, he says Granbull is too strong brother, that did look like a very powerful move…" Al trailed off in anxiety.

"Well then. We'll just have to train." Ed decided. "Let's get to work and show that Granbull who's boss!"

"Ri! Lu lu!" The pokemon tugged on Ed's coat.

"Ehveh! Eh!"

"You really wanna train with us?" Al asked, cocking his head to the side.

"Lu!" The pokemon cried decisively.

"Alright then! We can do it together! We'll help you get all our stuff back!" Al held out his paw and Riolu met it with his own.

"Ri!"

Eevee added her own paw, "Eh!"

"Alright then! Let's start training." Ed added a metal fist to the mix.

"EE! VEH!" Sharp stars shot out and stuck deep into a tree, causing it to shake before some startled fletchling flew away.

"Nice swift Eevee!" Al complimented, gearing up to use scratch on another tree, causing a few pinecones to hit him on the head.

"Maybe we shouldn't aim for trees." Ed suggested, seeing the results of their efforts.

"Good idea brother." Al shook off the little injury.

Ed turned his attention to the other pokemon, "How are you doing Riolu?" he looked to see the pokemon not doing much, just standing and staring at a rock. "Come on, at least try something?"

"Lu?"

"Yea! Go ahead and try using force palm." Ed pointed at the rock.

The Riolu nodded and moved his palm back, a bit of power activated in it but diminished as he pushed it forwards, effectively crushing his poor paw on the rock.

Riolu whined and stuck its injured paw in its mouth in an attempt to nurse it. Ed winced, offering him an Oran berry.

The pokemon accepted, taking a small bite. He seemed embarrassed.

"Do you wanna try again?" Ed kneeled down to eye level.

The Riolu sniffed and shook his head. "Ri…"

"You messed up one time, but that's just a reason to improve! The more you try the better you get. It's how we all grow stronger." Ed stood, "Now we can try it again, and I'll give you a couple tips."

The pokemon hesitantly nodded and took his position. "Now," Ed began, "I've noticed that when you start that forcepalm, it has a lot of power, but you don't maintain it when you push it outwards, so you end up the one getting hurt. You build up so much in the beginning that you try to keep it going. Work on that." he pointed to the rock.

Riolu hesitantly drew his arm back, building up his power, and focused on maintaining it. "Go ahead! You can do it!" ith Ed's words he shoved his paw forwards and was shocked to see the rock break in half.

"You did it! I'm so proud of you!" Ed smiled brightly as he pet Riolu on the head. The blue pokemon seemed surprised but leaned in and nuzzled Ed's hand in return.

"That was awesome!" Al congratulated.

"Vee! Veh!" Eevee agreed.

Riolu smiled at the pride directed at him, "Ri! Lu li!"

"You wanna try again!?" Ed asked enthusiastically.

"Ri!" Riolu jumped in excitement.

"Okay! Force palm one more time!"

"Ruu Li!"

That night found the three of them heading in the direction Riolu lead them. They were surprised however to find themselves back in town.

"Wait the Granbull lives-" Al gasped as he saw where the Riolu was leading them, "It's that same house!"

"That's where Darrel lives. Do you think?" gears began turning in Ed's head, "Shit things might make some sense now." Ed began to run towards the house.

"Brother! Slow down! Where are we going!?"

"We're gonna break into that dipshit's house!" he laughed a little.

"Ri!" Riolu cheered.

"Brother! That's illegal!" Al caught up to Ed's pace.

"Veh!" Eevee scolded.

"Does it look like I care?" Ed ran out back and tested the windows, locked. He jiggled the door, locked too. He looked down to see a pokemon door that was big enough for them to fit through swing with the breeze.

Ed crouched down and crawled through the door, followed by Riolu, Al, and Eevee. They snuck around as quietly as possible, looking around at all the miscellaneous junk he had lying around.

Ed smirked as he spotted a door cracked open, loud snoring could be heard from the other side. "This way." he whispered.

The three pokemon followed behind him, seeing the man fast asleep, "Look." Al pointed over to where a familiar bag sat beside the bed.

Ed smirked, "Bingo." Eevee hopped over to the bag and pulled it over to Ed as quietly as possible. "Thanks Eevee, but there's still some business to do. We can't just keep letting this guy do this."

"We should get out of here…" Al trailed off, "If he wakes up he'll call the cops again."

"True we've gotta figure out another plan." Ed looked up in thought, tapping his chin before an idea hit him. He took off his coat and tossed it on top of a pile of clothes where Darrel would be sure to see it.

"Brother what-"

"Our plan begins tomorrow Al, but for now let's get out of here."

The next day found a girl with blonde hair and blue eyes wandering into town, looking upset.

She stopped a lady with a cart of berries to ask her a question, "Have you seen anyone with a red coat? I had it last night but, it disappeared. It's very special to me."

The woman frowned, "I'm afraid there's some thieves running amuc around here, but there's good news. A nice man who lives in that house down there can make you perfect replicas of any clothes you may have lost with alchemy! He's done it for many people in town!" she directed her to the house.

"Oh!" The girl smiled, "Than you ma'am!" she made her way to the place she was told to go.

Once arriving at the house, she knocked on the door, "Excuse me?"

The door opened, "Yes?"

"I was told you were able to replace stolen items?" she looked hopeful.

"Yes." the man smiled, "With a price, what did you lose?"

"A red coat! It's very important to me, I just can't live without it. It has a symbol on the back." The man seemed to look up in thought as he tapped his chin, "Ah! I think I can do that! Wait out back with my other customers while I work my alchemical magic!"

The girl nodded and did as she was told. It wasn't long before the man came outside with the coat, "Ta da! Good as new! Freshly made!"

The girl grinned and grabbed the coat, "Wow! It's perfect!"

"As usual." Darrel smiled, "Now that will be six thousand cens-"

"You even had the symbol perfect! It's just the right color! How did you know what symbol to use sir?" she raised an eyebrow as the attention of others were caught.

Darrel cleared his throat, "Intuition?"

"Wow! It even had loose threads and tears exactly where they were!" the girl gasped in fake shock, "It's almost as if, you had it all along and just tried to sell it back to me." her voice went down to a deadpan.

"How dare you accuse me of that!?" the man yelled.

"How about we take a look inside your house then?" she asked, crossing her arms. The people nearby seemed skeptical themselves.

"My house is my business and you shouldn't-" Darrel found himself being pushed down by a force behind him.

"Wow! Look at all this stuff! Did anyone lose this?" Ed held up a fancy looking hat.

A man gasped, "My daughter's hat! I was about to ask him to make that for her!"

"Looks like we found the real thief here." Ed was passed a pile of stolen goods from Riolu, "Alright everyone! There's a going out of business sale! Everything that belongs to you is free!"

People trampled over Darrel as they rushed into the house, calling out in glee 'My shoes!' 'My clefairy plush!' 'My purse!'.

Ed laughed, "Bit off more than you can chew huh?" he high fived the girl.

The man let out a cry of anger, "You've ruined me! Granbull! Fire fang!" the girl was bit roughly with flames, causing her form to sizzle out into a Zorua.

"I should have known, you brat!" he pointed at the Zorua, "Headbutt!" The granbull rushed at Al, but was knocked backwards by Eevee's protect.

"Al! Scratch!" Al began to do the move, but something inside him told him to jump upwards. Al leaped up and yipped as a large dark ball of mass formed over him. He shot it towards the Granbull. "Woah!" Ed's eyes widened, a new move.

"I think that was shadow ball!" Al called.

"Well it was awesome!" Ed laughed, "Use shadow ball again!"

"Gotcha brother!" Al began to use the move when suddenly…

"Play rough with that Zorua!" no matter where he looked there was a fist or a foot coming at him. He couldn't avoid it. Before he could use his move he fell to the ground.

"Al!" Ed scooped him up and laid him on the side. "Eevee! Swift!" pointed stars shot out at Granbull, but the pokemon was still standing.

"Play rough with that Eevee!" It was unavoidable, and Eevee was soon on the ground too. Ed swallowed, it seemed like he just needed one more hit… but how?

Darrel smirked, "Now we just have to show that trainer what you're made of! Play rough one more time!" Ed winced and crossed his arms in front of him, only to never feel the blows.

He looked down to see the Riolu he'd befriended, crossing his arms with a red energy surrounding him. Ed blinked in shock, "You used Endure. Good job Riolu! One more Hit!"

The Riolu wasted no time in showing off his improved force palm. He knocked the Granbull backwards and cheered triumphantly as it fell to the ground.

"You did it Riolu!" Ed cheered as Riolu leaped into his arms.

Darrel almost fell backwards in shock, "What, how?"

"What is happening," Ed grabbed his arms and stuck them behind his back, "Is that you're getting arrested." he smirked, "How? Is that you were a fucking moron." Ed grabbed the man's wrists and restrained them as people flooded into the house behind him.

That night, the four of them were welcomed in the town, treated to a free meal and given a room to rest in the pokemon center.

"Goodnight, don't hesitate to ask if you need anything!" Nurse Joy chirped, closing the door.

Ed sighed happily, landing on the soft bed. "So soft and warm, when it's so cold outside."

"Ehveh!" Eevee curled up at the end of the bed.

"I agree, it's so comfy."

They sat in silence for a moment when Ed noticed Riolu looking a bit awkward in the corner of the room.

"Hey what's wrong Riolu?" the pokemon perked up, "You're more than welcome over here!" Riolu slowly made his way over to the bed and hopped up, laying next to Ed. "There we go." he pet the pokemon's head.

"Riiuuu!" the pokemon happily chirped, his stomach letting out a little growl.

Ed chuckled, "Didn't you just eat?"

"Lu…"

Al giggled, "Looks like he takes after you brother."

"What's that supposed to mean!?" Ed passed a pokepuff from the bedside desk to Riolu, who happily munched it down.

"Nothing brother." Al rolled his eyes and laid his head down, let's get some sleep, it's a long walk to the station tomorrow.

"Yea." Ed admitted, "You're right Al, let's all get some rest." With Alphonse under his arm, Eevee at his feet, and Riolu on his stomach, they all drifted to sleep.

The next morning found Riolu joining them as they walked to the station, not wanting to say goodbye quite yet. Though it seemed like the walk back went a bit faster than the walk there.

Once at the station, Ed's ticket bought, he sat and began to wait for his train. "Well Riolu, I'm sad to say it but. I've gotta say goodbye." he pet the aura sensors behind his head as he sadly leaned into the touch.

"Ri…"

Al nuzzled him a bit, "Don't worry about it, we may come and visit someday!" his words however didn't seem to do anything but make Riolu cry. The pokemon ran over and hugged Ed's leg, sniffling and crying. Ed frowned and held the Riolu close. They stayed in the forlorn embrace until a gurgle from the pokemon's stomach interrupted them.

"Lu…"

Ed bit his lip and considered something for a moment, then nodded his head. "Riolu. The reason we became friends was because you wanted to be stronger." he placed his hand on the pokemon's shoulder, "You've already begun to grow stronger, but I know you can become the absolute strongest! So," he pulled out a pokepuff from a case in his bag, "Do you wanna come along with me on my journey? You'll never go hungry again." Ed smiled.

Riolu accepted the pokepuff and hugged his new trainer close. "RI!" Ed hugged him back with a happy laugh.

"I'm so glad you accepted." he reached into his bag and pulled out a pokeball he'd purchased before he began the mission. Who knew it would come in handy? Riolu hit the button with his paw and allowed himself to be pulled in. The ball only shook once before stars shot out with a click.

Ed grinned, "Come on out Riolu!" he tossed the ball in the air and Riolu popped out, landing in his trainer's arms.

"Alright everyone!" Ed smirked, "Let's get back to East City and tell colonel bastard about how bullshit his stone lead was!"

"Ri!"

"God brother, you sure are rubbing off on him already." Riolu didn't even know who Mustang was yet.

"Eh." Eevee agreed.

"What can I say? We have kindred spirits." Ed shrugged.

"Lu!"

"I can't wait to start training with you!"


Hey! Sorry this took a bit! I had trouble figuring out this part but I finally feel satisfied with it! Please be sure to leave me some feedback! They mean the world to me! Thanks for reading!